Calling all Rhode Islanders! The House budget was released last Tuesday and included electric vehicle (EV) registration fees (p. 6) for battery electric, plug-in hybrid, and hybrid electric vehicles. While the bill has been passed by the House and heads to the Senate floor for a vote on Friday, we encourage you to contact your legislators and let them know why you oppose these fees or that you are concerned with how they will impact you. We will walk you through the outreach steps later in this blog.

What’s in the House budget? 

The fees proposed by the House are slightly lower than what was proposed in the governor's budget but affect more vehicle types. Fees charged per registration cycle: 

• $200 for battery electric vehicles 
• $100 for plug in hybrid electric vehicles 
• $50 for hybrid electric vehicles 

The Department of Revenue and the Department of Transportation would also be required to write a report by January 1st, 2027, on these registration fees and if they should be updated.  

This fee is punitive and sends the wrong message.

This fee is an obvious and major disincentive for EV adoption. By charging EV owners more to register their vehicle, on top of the typically higher price tag of an electric vehicle compared to an internal combustion engine vehicle, the state will see decreased EV adoption, undermining the state’s ability to meet the mandates in the Act on Climate. Remember, in terms of emissions, transportation is the number one sector. Study after study points to EVs as the most important way to reduce emissions in this sector. 

A recent poll by AAA shows that consumer interest in EVs has taken a hit in the past two years. We believe that the shift in public perception is tied to expectations that the federal government will eliminate tax credits, funding for charging stations, and impose hefty tariffs on automobiles. Along with the federal attack on EVs, this state-level fee is likely to put a big damper on EV adoption, which means that no one should believe that the fee will result in any significant amount of revenue.

BloombergNEF’s 2025 Electric Vehicle Outlook ranks global passenger EV (battery electric and plug-in hybrid) sales by market. The report ranks US as the market with the 3rd highest EV sales. However, sales in the US are slowing due to the current policy landscape.  

Take action by calling or emailing your legislators! 

The Rhode Island legislative session is wrapping up soon. We need your support in telling legislators why these fees are not the right idea. 

Email or call the Senate President and Speaker of the House. You can use or adapt the script below. 

“Hi President Lawson/Speaker Shekarchi, this is [name] from [town] Rhode Island. I am [emailing/calling] to let you know I oppose the electric vehicle registration fees. Rhode Island needs to lead on reducing emissions from the transportation sector without levying new and costly fees to current and future EV owners. This fee will be a disincentive towards electrification and further burden EV owners.” 

Feel free to personalize this script! If you are an EV driver, you can share if these fees would have affected your choice to buy if you knew they were coming. 

President Lawson

• Call: (401) 222-4901
• Email: sen-lawson@rilegislature.gov

Speaker Shekarchi

• Call: (401) 222-2447 
• Email: Rep-shekarchi@rilegislature.gov 

Email or call your legislators. You can use or adapt the script below. 

“Hi [Your Representative/Senator], this is [name] from [town] Rhode Island. I am [emailing/calling] to let you know I oppose the electric vehicle registration fees. With a new climate report being released this winter, Rhode Island needs to support reducing emissions from the transportation sector, not levy new and costly fees to current and future EV owners. This fee will be a disincentive towards electrification and further burden EV owners.” 

Need contact information for your legislators? Check here for contact details for your representative and here for your senator. 

We can maintain our roads with alternative revenue sources.

The EV fees are proposed as a way for the state to recoup money that EV drivers are not paying via the gas tax. However, there are other options to help fund road and highway maintenance without deliberately raising fees for EV drivers, and ways to ensure our public transit authority, RIPTA, has sustainable and long-term funding sources that don’t rely on EVs. 

Here are a few ideas from our prior blog: 

• Weight/Side-Based Excise Taxes or Registration Fees
• Mileage-Based User Fees 
• Transportation Network Company (TNC) and delivery fees 
• Progressive Taxation Policy 

With all of these ideas, the details of implementation are key, and care must be taken to make sure they do not disproportionately impact low-income residents. 

Note:  We can fund public transportation without relying on electric vehicles 

• Here at Green Energy Consumers Alliance, we believe in robust and reliable public transportation. However, we also feel that using electric vehicles to help fund the agency is not the path forward.  
• The Save RIPTA coalition has a package of seven legislative priorities that provides options for sustainable, long-term funding that capitalizes on existing revenue streams. 

If you take action, or have any questions, please reach out to Rhode Island Policy Advocate Tina Munter.

P.S. The cost of EVs has been coming down, and some excellent EVs are less expensive than the average gasoline-powered cars. But on average, new EVs are about $11,000 more expensive than gasoline-powered cars. This means they already pay almost $800 more in state sales taxes. That money could help fund existing transportation needs.